The present application is related to environmental control systems for marine vessels. More specifically, the present application is related to centralized dehumidification systems for marine vessels.
By their nature, marine vessels are operated in high humidity environments. This is especially true in larger recreational vessels such as yachts which exceed 50 feet in length. These vessels are operated in warmer climates often in a tropical environment. These climates are conducive to the growth of mold when excess moisture is present and temperatures are sufficiently high.
The conventional approach to controlling the environment inside of a marine vessel has been to implement air-conditioning systems that use a central system such as a chiller to cool water which is then transferred to the cabins to be used for cooling. In other system, an expansion refrigeration system using a refrigerant gas is used with air from the cabin being passed over an evaporator coil to cool the air. The use of traditional air conditioning to reduce the air temperature has the additional effect of creating cooled surfaces both in the cooled air delivery system and within the cabin of the vessel.
In regions where the relative humidity reaches 60 to 90%, an inrush of ambient atmospheric air from outside of the vessel includes significant moisture that, when mixed with the cold, conditioned air causes condensation on surfaces within the vessel. In addition, if air is moved too quickly over the cold air conditioning coils, some of the water vapor passes through the air-conditioning unit. This water vapor then has the opportunity to condense inside of the cold air conditioning ducts or on cold surfaces such as the grill that overlies the air-conditioning output.